I'm always on a lookout for rare vehicles, so I spotted Lincoln Navigator in our town today. It surprised me even more that it had Slovenian license plates. The car might be a common sight in the USA (I don't know actually), but I don't remember seeing any in my life before. Sometimes I see US cars that aren't by default available here, most often it's Cadillacs or some Ford models like F-150, but their license plates are usually German - this doesn't mean they're owned by people that actually live in Germany but most US cars that come to Europe, are imported either to Germany or Belgium and if one has a firm in Germany, you can register it there.

Anyway, having nothing to do, I was driving behind Navigator for a while and figured that by its looks it must be a fairly old model. Lucky for me, the guy went to the gas station, and so did I, parking right next to him. I asked him about the car of course, he was an elderly man and he told me that he spent 35 years working on the East Coast as a mechanic for Harley-Davidson in Baltimore. His last car there was Navigator and he was so attached to it, so he brought it to Europe when retiring. In a joke he said that he left his wife there (divorce) but took his car with him. The car was from y. 2005, so I figured out correctly, that it was older. But with our fuel prices, he had the car immediately converted to natural gas.

This post has been edited by Lopov: May 23 2020, 07:53 PM

Navigators are generally solid. At least in my experience.

I've never seen one here. Don't see many trucks or SUVs. Mostly tiny cars or micro vans or station wagons. Dude near me has a Dodge Ram pickup though. Freaking huge extended cab truck. Hopefully it's a work truck. Such a waste of a perfectly good off-road vehicle/work vehicle using it like a car. Had a hitch on it though so at least he can haul.

Neat, Lopov. Navigator is made by Lincoln, the luxury division of Ford Motor Company. It is basically a fancied up Ford Expedition. Like the Expedition, both are large SUVs on top of a modified F150 pick up truck chassis and drive train. As a Ford Truck underneath, it is pretty durable and reliable. As a Lincoln, it has more gadgets to go wrong and costs more to get parts and fix than a Ford.

I've generally been somewhat partial to Fords and stay a bit plugged into what they are doing. My grandfather turned his auto mechanic shop into a Ford Dealership back around 1921 and a branch of the family still runs it.

Nifty!

I will always remember the Lincoln Navigator as just one of many examples of our corrupt former mayors.

Having some coffee with pieces of chocolate while watching a Doom 3 walkthrough by my new fave walkthrougher

I remember Doom 3 scaring the bejeezus out of me.

There are a few Dodge Rams around here, 10-15 years ago it was possible to import them directly from the USA to Slovenia. The company in charge of these imports later closed the Dodge branch, they didn't meet the expected sales figure, nonetheless old Dodge Rams can still be seen here on a rare occasion, they're more common on the countryside. Like the Navigator I saw, most of them have been converted to autogas because of high fuel prices. I've also been seeing a brand new Dodge Ram in our town, but considering, how clean it always is, I assume that its driver is using it for city drives. Quite a challenge considering that some of our streets can get unpredictably narrow at times. I still remember some foreigner that got stuck in one of our streets, he was driving Cadillac Escalade and took a wrong turn. He got literally stuck between two buildings, it was too narrow for such a car.



Interesting, I didn't know that they're actually a division of Ford, so this means that I'm almost driving a Lincoln, because I drive Ford. I'm not familiar with Ford Expedition, it's not available here, but I remember that a guy close to us had Ford Excursion, it was extremely long. We (Europe and USA) do have some Ford models in common, I just checked the USA site, like Edge, Ecosport, Escape (called Kuga here), Mustang (of course!) and Ranger. We're supposed to get Explorer as well. My Ford Galaxy isn't available in the USA, which I find interesting, because it's a 7-seater and AFAIK, such cars are rather popular in the USA. It's slightly smaller than Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna.



I googled up this mayor and what I like is that he got close to 30 years for corruption. Here he'd get 10 years if the judge was extremely strict, in most cases it'd be 5 years or even a parole.

Yeah I'm not sure how one goes about getting them here. I don't see a lot of newer American cars. Most people drive Subaru or Volvo or Kia in my area. Few random German cars. There's quite a few older American cars though, like from the 50s and 60s. They're quite popular. Must be really hard to get parts though I'd imagine.

Then there's the abomination known as the A-traktor. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-...dish-a-traktor/

Everyone I know hates these things. They're limited to 30kmh and the drivers never pull right so you can pass. Ever. Nothing like already being late to an appointment and then getting stuck behind one of these.

They're popular because you only need a tractor license to drive one, and you can get those at like 15 or 16, can't remember. You get a real driving license at 18, so they view it as a way to drive earlier... but half the time they don't finish building until they've outgrown it! haha

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When I lived in Germany for two years = my husband and I brought both our car and truck with us. It cost the same to buy a car there as it would to ship our own; so well worth it. The vehicles traveled by ship to Bremerhaven, Germany = it took 30 days for them to leave one port and arrive at the other.

We shipped them a few weeks before leaving and used a rental car in the U.S.; then lived on Base where we could walk around wherever we needed to go in Germany before the vehicles arrived. When they got there; we got a ride from one of the men on Base from Bitburg to Bremerhaven and we drove the vehicles back.

If I had it to do over again I would every time! It was a great experience to drive an American car over there because = they are so unusual to see over there that they create a big sensation with everyone every where they go.

The truck had a body lift and over-sized mudder tires; and everyone in Germany fell in love with it = it almost won first place in an Auto show down in Kaiserslautern! Here we are (with my dog) at that car show:


https://imgur.com/Y4cDELC


The car wasn't a hit in Germany at all; but in France people were pulling me over as I was driving on the road wanting to look at the car = they loved it:


https://imgur.com/H4cgvVF






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This post has been edited by mALX: May 24 2020, 06:11 PM

That is such a great story the man had about bringing his vehicle! He sounds very funny, too; lol. And yes; about the gas in Europe = it is HUGELY expensive there; and so much higher Octane than we have in the U.S. Our highest here is 89%; and in Europe the lowest I saw was 98%. My car and truck loved it; and ran faster and stronger than they ever had in their lives; but when I returned to the U.S. with them and they had to use the lower Octane gas again = they could barely run on it. I think they had become spoiled; lol.

What actually happened: The U.S. uses cheap gaskets that don't last; and the higher Octane gas just ate right through them. So when we returned; we had to rebuild both engines entirely = all new gaskets.




















That is so funny!!!

That is so funny about getting stuck between the buildings! I've seen the Escalade; it is an enormous monster-sized vehicle! It should be an RV by its size; it looks like a house on wheels, lol. I actually rode in one a few months ago when a friend took me for a ride in his. It was unbelievably comfortable; and when it got cold later the seat heated up = really nice! (but wouldn't want to pay the gas bill for driving it; not even here in the U.S. where the price of gas is so cheap! I am sure it doesn't even get 12 miles per gallon; maybe not even 9 mpg! )

I had to look up the Lincoln Navigator; had never seen one before! Dodge Ram Trucks though = very familiar with their Diesels! That is not a small truck either!






This post has been edited by mALX: May 24 2020, 06:55 PM

Actually I was wrong before, Dodge and Chrysler were here available in 90s completely normally, no need for import or anything. That's why I still see plenty of old Chrysler Voyagers, occasionally also Grand Voyagers, and rare Dodge cars like Journey and Durango - rare for our parts, that means. My neighbor was driving Chrysler Le Baron - that car was so awesome to look at, it was bright red. I remember that his now late wife got dementia very early, and he loved her so much, that he took her from the nursing home whenever he could, and was driving her around in this car with the sunroof lowered.



Subaru cars here are very rare, and if they are, they're mostly older models. Kia is very popular, there are quite some Volvos, but mostly older, if they're newer, it's SUVs. I remember when I was in Sweden around 15 years ago, we were staying in a town called Hörby, and in front of almost every house Volvo was parked.

Here the most popular are German cars - VWs, BMWs, Audis alongside French brands (Renault, Peugeot, Citroen) are by far the most common. Oh, and Škoda, although Škoda is actually VW from the Czech Republic. Every "third" car on our streets is VW Passat and that's a good enough reason for me not ever own one.

The only official US brand, which cars can be bought here without paying extra costs of importing, is Jeep. Well and Ford, but Ford Europe isn't exactly the same as Ford US, if I get it right. While Fords are common, Jeeps are very uncommon and also fuel-thirsty. A lot of Jeeps are converted to diesel by default, but even then they're thirsty.



OMG, what the hell is this?! Wait, it's made by Volvo?



I believe you - I always drive behind for a while if seeing some rare car and if I have a chance to talk to the owner, I do it. Once I saw an Oldsmobile in Croatia and I also talked to the owner, but I think that Oldsmobile no longer exists.

Your car look(ed) great, mALX, which brand was it?

No, that's a modification of a Volvo Duett or PV. It's what our youth can drive by the age of 15 without a driver's license and it's restricted with regards to speed.


Correction; it's supposed to be restricted...

Yeah, they're supposed to be restricted.

At least here, most of them are, which infuriates us. Especially on the motorway, where they're not supposed to be because of the speed limiter!

Argh! *shakes fist*

And if you ask anyone I know, gas isn't cheap in the US. Some states are on par with some European countries. I remember paying 70 cents a gallon in the 80s and early 90s.

This post has been edited by Sakiri: May 24 2020, 07:41 PM

Aw, I am so very sorry for your friend and his wife going through that. That Chrysler Le Baron was a gorgeous car; but very much trouble to maintain. The engine was sideways = an experiment by the motor company that didn't work out. They needed a full overhaul every two years.



Jeeps are VERY thirsty gas hogs. I think it is their shape = no aerodynamics at all; they butt heads with the wind in every way.



That was the Mitsubishi concept car called Mitsubishi Conquest TSI = mine was made by Mitsubishi in Japan and imported to the U.S.. The concept of this car was sold to the U.S. and became a "Dodge Conquest" when sold here. The Dodge one was a terrible imitation of the Japanese version. Dodge took all the stuff that made it great out of it just to give it a cheaper price so they could mass market it.

That car was amazing! I bought it used from the man who imported it to the U.S. He traded it in and I bought it eighteen minutes later = I fell in love with it immediately on seeing it; and cried when I eventually traded it ten years later. It was the best and most fun car to drive that I ever owned or drove. It never lost traction no matter how fast you drove or how tight the corners you took at those high speeds. It easily went to 180 on the Autobahn; and just cruised at 150 with the pedal only halfway down. I loved that car!

I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee. It's a lot bigger than your 'standard' Jeep, but I believe it has the same engine and transmission. I get 20 miles per gallon, 22 if I am careful in how I drive. That is just a few less than I got with my Chevy Cobalt, which got 25 miles per gallon. The new 3.7 liter engines they have today, and the 8 speed transmissions, are really good.

My brother once had one of the older Jeeps from the 70s or 80s. The regular CJ7 style, that you automatically think of when you hear the word Jeep. That one got terrible mileage. I think he got 12 - 18 miles per gallon, depending on how he drove it.

Lol on the Tractor car!!!

On the gas = people in the U.S. who complain about the price of gas have never been to Europe. They don't realize how good we have it here on the cost of gas. Mostly it is because here they dilute the gas with Ethanol; so the cost is lowered; and even when it was pure we have always used really low Octane here (which lowers the price).


When I left the U.S. for Germany the gas here was running between 3.50 to over 5.00 U.S. Dollars per gallon depending on which State you were in.

The gas in Europe the whole time I was there was running over 5. U.S. Dollars PER LITER = so around 20.00 U.S. Dollars per gallon. The gas in France was even higher than Germany's; and the gas in Switzerland was off the charts higher.







This post has been edited by mALX: May 24 2020, 08:25 PM

@mALX - I asked about Mitsu, because it looks familiar to me. Some googling revealed me, that this model was also available in Europe, as a proper Mitsubishi, not as Dodge. And which one is the other car - the SUV?

@SubRosa - that's a great mileage for a car of such size. Your car looks great! I've only seen one or two Jeep GC so far, standard Cherokees are more common, but the most common is Renegade. I remember a photo of your Chevy Cobalt on some snowy road as you went to visit your relatives (brother, I think).

Your Brother's Jeep is exactly what I was imaging, lol. Yeah; their gas mileage was terrible! But your Grand Cherokee's is amazing for those big boxy things! My (newly discovered to be late) husband had a Isuzu Rodeo that was smaller and trimmer than the Grand Cherokee; but at best we got 15 mpg! (possibly 17 if it was over 90 degrees out and it had a recent tire rotation/oil change/tuneup, lol)








The SUV was a Nissan Pathfinder. That truck (SUV) was a total blast!






This post has been edited by mALX: May 24 2020, 08:35 PM